[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]We pay special attention to a baby’s first breath, and then the last, but for much of the extended middle, our breaths go unacknowledged. And yet, as the ancient Yogis knew, by learning to work with the breath, we can influence every aspect of our life.
Breathwork can help process unresolved grief, lead to better sleep, lessen anxiety, reduce anger, ease addiction and open up newfound potential.
Enter holotropic breathwork, developed by Stanislav Grof, MD, a psychiatrist with over 60 years of experience researching non-ordinary states of consciousness, and his wife Christina. Grof, one of the founders of transpersonal psychology, created this form of breathwork at Esalen, a California holistic education center, in the late 1970s.
He turned to breathwork when his research with psychedelic substances was cut short following the government’s infamous ban on psychoactive substances in 1971. Fascinated by psychedelics’ ability to radically alter an individual’s state of consciousness, as well as the way psychoanalysis could allow the subconscious to emerge to the surface, Grof began exploring other ways, without the use of substances, to alter—or amplify—consciousness.
What is holotropic breathwork?
The technique uses a combination of accelerated breathing and dramatic music to help participants enter a nonordinary state of consciousness. According to Grof, holotropic literally means “moving towards wholeness,” with Greek etymology (
holos meaning whole, and
trepein meaning moving in the direction of something). In his words, “This seemingly simple process, combining breathing, evocative music and other forms of sound, bodywork, and artistic expression, has an extraordinary potential for opening the way for exploring the entire spectrum of the inner world.”
As taught by the Grofs, the method evolved into a process by which a ‘breather’ will lie down on a mat with a pair of eyeshades on and listen to a carefully curated playlist of music that gradually builds in intensity. The breathwork itself is nothing fancy: Just a little deeper, fuller and quicker than normal. The Grofs purposely wanted to keep the process simple to allow people to let go of any mental baggage around it.
‘Sitters’ accompany these ‘breathers’ to hold space for them, attending to them if necessary. The sessions tend to end in discussion and drawing, allowing people to communicate the ineffable nature of their experience. Holotropic breathwork is typically done in groups, and participants work in pairs, alternating between the roles of the “breather” and the “sitter.”
The Grofs have conducted sessions using this technique with more than 35,000 people in the U.S., Asia, Europe, South America and Australia and have trained and certified more than a thousand breathwork facilitators.
These days, holotropic breathwork sessions are frequently practiced one-on-one, with an experienced facilitator holding the space of sitter. The method has spawned a bevy of other similar practices, such as Transformational Breathing and Rebirthing.
What can you expect from a holotropic breathwork session?
Since I had never actually experienced a breathwork session, outside of yoga classes and trainings, I decided to check out the closest I could find to Holotropic breathwork in my area. I found
Nancy Wunderlich, BA, LMT, a trained breathwork practitioner, who started her breathwork studies with the Grofs. She then went on to create her own breathwork hybrid, Soul-Centered Breathwork, which involves an extended cycle of rhythmic, open-mouthed breathing, coupled with music, designed to help the client connect deeply with her inner self.
After discussing my general state of mind (frazzled and rushed), and the most egregious limiting belief I struggled with—it’s not safe to flow with the ease of life—we went to her session room, where I lay down on a massage table. The music played; I tried to breathe as deeply as I could. Toward the end, as the music softened, Wunderlich read some forgiveness statements, such as “I forgive myself for believing there’s not enough time,” followed by a raft of reprogramming statements, such as “there is plenty of time.”
In our initial discussion, Wunderlich had connected my perceived lack of time with what I had told her about the context of my birth. My mother, who was bipolar, basically went dark after I was born, because my father had left her, leaving her alone with my brother and me. I was whisked off with a nanny as she succumbed to the maw of depression for a few years. Lack of time, pointed out Wunderlich, was connected with my sense of never enough, whether it was attention, or love, or nurturance.
Wunderlich’s final prompts during the breathwork cycle was to envision my inner child. “What would she like to tell you?,” she asks. “What would you like to tell her?” I hear a voice inside me say: “I wish you had believed in me earlier; I wish you would believe in me now.” I understood all the ways my self-doubt and mistrust have held me back—and how that is beginning to change. “I always did trust you, I tell her, I just didn’t know it. I’ve been trusting you all along.”
After a few minutes the music stops. I breathe into the silence; I breathe the silence in.
Healing with holotropic breathwork
Holotropic states, whether through minor insights or major breakthroughs, have the potential to take us out of our everyday identity and into deeper realms of our psyche. It’s here we can reclaim what Grof refers to as “our cosmic status.” We get to glimpse our own divinity and the deep connections we treasure with other people, nature and all life.
The idea of this breathwork is based on the belief that Jung, the Swiss psychologist and psychiatrist who founded analytic psychology, first articulated when he said it was impossible to achieve an intellectual understanding of the psyche. The best a therapist can do is to create a supportive environment in which transformation can occur. When “breathers” are immersed in a holotropic state, the healing process is guided from within.
How does it help with anxiety?
Holotropic breathing can help people relax, release stress and may also help reduce anxiety. By easing anxiety and inviting a holistic framework, holotropic breathwork can help practitioners open their minds to find solutions to unresolved problems. Interestingly, one of the most significant sources of anxiety is the trauma of birth. As Jung believed, this often can’t be resolved by intellectual understanding, but modalities such as breathwork can help access the trapped emotional and physical energy that lurk behind anxiety and depression.
Who should not practice holotropic breathwork?
Contraindications for holotropic breathwork are pregnancy, heart disease, or history of severe emotional disorder. Breathwork can be dangerous for participants with serious cardiovascular disorders, because the session can involve rapid breathing (similar to hyperventilation), intense emotions, and considerable stress.
How to get started with breathwork
If you’re curious about breathwork, a good place to begin is by getting comfortable in breathing more slowly. Consciously slowing down your breathing for a few minutes has been scientifically shown to shift your body into your parasympathetic (also known as ‘rest and digest’) response, promoting functions such as digestion, helping you sleep better and feel calmer.
Try this:
Here’s a common breath awareness exercise called “Blow Out the Candle.” Imagine a birthday candle. Take in a deep breath through the nose and then exhale through the mouth to blow out the candle. Feel the calming effect this has on your nervous system.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_text_separator title="Featured Products" border_width="2"][vc_row_inner equal_height="yes" content_placement="middle" gap="35"][vc_column_inner width="1/3"][vc_single_image image="158282" img_size="full" alignment="center" onclick="custom_link" img_link_target="_blank" css=".vc_custom_1646488726754{padding-right: 7% !important;padding-left: 7% !important;}" link="https://www.vitacost.com/nature-made-stress-solutions-clear-focus"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width="1/3"][vc_single_image image="158284" img_size="full" alignment="center" onclick="custom_link" img_link_target="_blank" css=".vc_custom_1646488757373{padding-right: 7% !important;padding-left: 7% !important;}" link="https://www.vitacost.com/pranarom-meditation-diffusion-blend-kit"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width="1/3"][vc_single_image image="158283" img_size="full" alignment="center" onclick="custom_link" img_link_target="_blank" css=".vc_custom_1646488795759{padding-right: 7% !important;padding-left: 7% !important;}" link="https://www.vitacost.com/natures-way-stress-end"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row]
